summer

The weather recently has still been too hot for my liking, but there are sure signs of fall all around. Leaves are changing, and the mornings are full of crisp air.

I did a terrible job blogging about our summer adventures…I probably have one more post to do about our trip to Vermont, but until I can get around to doing that, I wanted to post some miscellaneous pictures from the summer months.

^^homemade ice cream; delicious.^^

^^many of our summer days looked like this.^^

^^bocce and pizza in the park!^^

^^summer haircut + pizza afterwards.^^

^^denver chalk art festival.^^

^^few things are more fun than the fountains at union station.^^

^^willa’s 4th birthday!^^

^^bbqs at my sister’s house are always fun + yay for a rare family photo!^^

^^willa asked for a kite for her birthday. windy days aren’t frequent, but we’ve gotten it up in the air a few times!^^

Earlier this summer, I was thrilled to have the chance to travel east to rendez-vous with my two dearest Canadian friends. We all went to summer camp together back in the day, and although we’ve stayed close as life has taken us in different directions, it’s been a long time since we’ve all been in the same place at the same time. So, when we saw an opportunity for a visit, we did not pencil it in. We BOOKED IT. There were Google invites and calendar dates and it was HAPPENING.

I flew to Toronto gloriously solo, and then spent the night with Carolyn and her husband Marcel (who I was so delighted to finally meet!). The next morning, we jumped on VIA Rail to Kingston where Cat picked us up. We hit up the LCBO and Farm Boy before devouring legit cheese curds and dill pickle chips en route to Carolyn’s family cottage on Big Rideau Lake.

We packed a lot into two days at the cottage (and to rest up in between days, we slept on that beautiful porch!):

^^we canoed. deep talks on lake. and solid paddling. we all have our basic D canoeing certification after all. j-strokes all day.^^

^^there was lots of swimming. including a long (LONG!) distance swim to one of those islands in the distance. i was a reticent participant, but we made it there and back safely and i only suffered slight neck pain, ear pain, and muscle fatigue as a result. friends, man, they push you to try new things!^^

^^we of course took lots of group photos amidst all the activities.^^

^^there were lots of hugs, lots of laughs, and lots of conversations. these girls love me for who i am, and encourage me to be exactly that. it is so comforting to be around friends who have known you forever. friends with whom you can pick up exactly where you left off. like you never left off.^^

^^on our drive back to toronto from the cottage, we went by the camp where we all met. cat and i were campers together at age 12 and at the swim test on the first day i remember thinking she was going to be my new best friend. carolyn came to camp a few years later, and we were counselors together until after high school. it was unreal to visit camp; i hadn’t been there since a reunion in 2005. lisa, the director, welcomed us with open arms (and lunch!) and we got to skip around the dining hall (a camp tradition for visitors and birthday girls) to the cheers of current staff. it was truly special to be back for a visit.^^

^^back in toronto, we grabbed our other dear camp friend jenn, and hit the city scene for a delicious dinner at DaiLo. it was the perfect end to a perfect visit.^^

So much love to ALL my camp girls, and huge thanks for all those back home who helped make my trip happen!

How is it August already? Didn’t summer just begin? What is it about summer that makes us all so busy? The nice weather and conceptualized “break” from the routine of the “school year” seems to be engrained in me, even though it’s been a long time since the academic year dictated my life. Although, Willa is now wedded to the school calendar, so summer has brought a lot of freedom with her schedule. A lot of bonding time for us.

As soon as school finished, we hit the road as a family and headed due East. Some tornado warnings slowed our initial progress, but once the skies cleared we made good time and were delighted to spend a weekend with Dan’s mom and other extended family. There was lots of pool time, good food, and a baseball game. Most importantly, there was family bonding and the road trip was totally tolerable. The kids rocked it.

Photo highlights:

^^shortly after we arrived, we went to check out the pool. the kids couldn’t contain their excitement and started to climb in, clothes and all (and helmet!).^^

^^memorial day weekend marked willa’s discovery of her love of the pool! she had been really timid up until that time, but she realized how well her floaties would hold her up, and she then spent hours swimming around the deep end. it was the beginning of a summer of swimming willa!^^

It’s late (almost 10pm!) and it’s been a long but wonderful day of celebrating our dear Willa. We planned to keep it low-key this year but somehow it felt anything but that, but in all the right celebratory ways. Willa was thrilled.

We had a birthday party in the park yesterday with cupcakes and donuts and a bubble maker and a Minnie Mouse piñata. And for the first time ever, her scrooge mother didn’t write “no gifts please” on the invitation so she got a boatload of amazing gifts, several of them of the Frozen variety. Princess Elsa 4eva.

And her Nana’s in town.

Her Uncle got her a stuffed skunk with pink sparkly eyes. She loves skunks. Almost as much as Elsa. Sometimes more. Depends on the day.

And today we took a trip to her favorite park and she didn’t even care that the train and petting zoo were closed or that a thunderstorm rolled in after 20 minutes of playing in the stream.

After that we went to see chickens and get fresh eggs at Auntie Al’s work.

Once home, she and her brother ate a whole pint of raspberries in the backyard and then she watched The Cat and the Hat on the couch in minimal clothing.

We made pizza for dinner and she squealed when daddy threw the dough high up in the air. She got more presents.

I made her a “pink lady” cake with strawberries and as soon as she saw the strawberries smashed to the sides she ran over with arms spread wide and gave me a huge hug and told me it was the best cake ever.

Mid-cake eating we realized there was a rainbow in front of the house. Not a mini one, but a real-deal all the way across the sky one. She jumped up and down and said she “just knew” there’d be one on her birthday. Later she said it was the best gift she received for her birthday.

She used her newfound four-year-old strength to drag her mini trampoline upstairs and bounced on it for a good hour to burn off pizza and cake and present-induced excitement.

She got to stay up until 9pm. Wearing a glow bracelet from Nana and Bobo.

She makes us laugh and smile and sigh and scream and I can’t imagine what our life would be like without the joy she brings to it each and every day. Happy birthday, Willa!

After our fun time in Boston, we made our way out to Cape Cod for MY SISTER’S WEDDING. They’d decided to get married in Truro, Massachusetts. (Side note: why is Massachusetts so hard to spell? Seriously. It is so hard.)

We were delighted to stay in a big house my parents rented in Truro. It was so fun to all be together in an old Cape Cod house. The house was a bit quirky, but delightful and roomy. The kids each had their own room, as did the adults. And it had an outdoor shower! And a beautiful view of the water. What more could one want?

The wedding was on Saturday, but the days prior to that there we lots of festivities. Family dinners, a bachelor party, a bridal shower, the rehearsal dinner, etc. etc. SO MUCH FUN.

I am so happy for my sister, and so grateful for the chance we had to make so many family memories. It was truly a trip to remember.

^^en route from boston we stopped in plymouth to eat some bahn mi sandwiches and to take in some american history. it was difficult to get this shot because so many people were waiting to pose in front of the mayflower II!^^

^^as soon as we arrived in truro, we checked out the wedding venue. gorgeous. also, i like overexposed photos!^^

^^the first night in town we had a dinner with the bride and groom’s families. it was also my dad’s birthday. cam was a bit of handful but then he won over the crowd with his coy smiles. that boy!^^

^^love.^^

^^cape code beaches. sand dune hiking. family time.^^

^^rehearsal. willa was on it.^^

^^rehearsal dinner! willa ate a ton of fried clams. dan ate two lobsters. we all had fun.^^

^^woo hoo! wedding day!^^

Alison and Jakob have tons of beautiful pictures from their special day, but those are theirs to share, not mine. It was such a special day. Everything was perfect. They were so happy; and we were so happy for them. I feel so lucky to have been a part of their day, and we are so happy to welcome Jakob into our family. And on top of all that, they live in Denver! Down the street! How did we get so lucky? Life is good.

You know what traveling with kids is not like? Traveling without kids.

Shocking revelation, I know. But really, as simple as that sounds, it’s a fundamental concept that one is forced to come to terms with when embarking on adventures with little ones. And I think it’s something that many of us struggle with in the years after we first have kids. Your “pre-kid” life wasn’t that long ago, and it’s hard to shake the memories of when traveling (or doing anything, really) was, well, quite different.

A few weeks ago, great friends of ours flew in from Texas and we all trekked out to Crested Butte for the better part of a week. We’d had the trip planned for several months, and our friends were excited to have a Colorado mountain experience.

Crested Butte is sensational. It’s truly an idyllic mountain town. We’d been twice before, but this was our first time going in the summer. The town was as quaint as ever and we were blown away by the breathtaking views. We tried our best to maximize the hiking trails and other outdoor adventures the area has to offer.

It was challenging though, to be sure. We were tired. Cameron didn’t sleep that well. Willa had the ups and downs that seem to be par for her course at age 3. I got frustrated. At one point I cried and declared we should just drive back to Denver.

I didn’t really mean it. And we didn’t. I’m glad we didn’t. The week was special. It was memorable. We got closer as a family. We reconnected with our friends. We got to know their kids.

There are numerous quotations about how things are hard but you should do them anyway. How it’s the hard that makes them great. I’m not saying I wouldn’t take a relaxed vacation sans kid drama…I would. (Gosh, I would!) But different is okay. Different has its own charms.

^^Meridian Lake. We hiked the steep route which was a lot of bang for your buck. Great views and refreshing swim.^^

^^Henderson Park aka “the mini park.” According to Willa, this was the highlight of the trip. I’ll bet you’ve never seen a smaller park.^^

^^Our VRBO on Elk Avenue. It was close to town and also to several hiking trails. It had a bit of an odd bedroom set-up (a really large master suite with a sitting area, a tiny bedroom by the kitchen with a full-sized bed, and two bedrooms upstairs with twin beds) but it worked out just fine! Great outdoor space.^^

To round out this story, it must be said that friends who can parent together are true friends. The challenges of this trip were eased by the extra eyes, hands, ears, and hugs throughout the days and the camaraderie around the campfire at night. We love you guys!

My mom was here on her birthday. Then came Willa’s birthday! And then, last weekend, thanks to a variety of forces coming together, my family was all in town for Father’s Day. We did it up on Saturday and Sunday with a baseball game, a brewery trip, dinner at our favorite Malaysian restaurant, and lots of laughs.

When you don’t live in the same place as family, the time they take to come visit is so special. It can sometimes be overwhelming to pack a lot in to a short time, but the memories we make are something I truly cherish. As Willa’s getting older and understanding more, I hope she, too, forms her own memories that she can hang on to. I know she will. (It seems unlikely this blog will be around for her to look back on…but who knows where the future internet will go?) She has such a wonderful time with the family and friends who come to visit, but she’s just now starting to to comprehend that they have to leave. It’s hard when good times come to an end. Life lessons, I suppose?

^^since there wasn’t a food truck at the brewery, we decided to head to one of our all-time favorite eateries: makan malaysian cafe. it’s an awesome place to be any day of the week, but on sundays they have “family dinner” options that give you a sampling of several dishes. i’m always a fan of sharing, but it’s also definitely the way to go for people unfamiliar with malaysian food.^^

^^willa loved the family-style dining as well. she tried more than usual, including a fish ball. this was supposed to be a fist bump to celebrate, but it turned into some kind of fist bumb cheers combo.^^

^^we rounded out the weekend by waiting in the long line at little man for way too much ice cream. always a good choice. winning! (but seriously, their “single” is about 6 scoops of ice cream. they should revisit their size names.)^^